


Viral

by profligate



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Biological Warfare, Canon? What Canon?, F/M, Gen, Hux is a nasty little goblin inhabiting a pasty hotbody and you cant change my mind, Kylo Ren Has Issues, and is not entirely on board with this plan, honestly the Reader is a huge creep and is so morally ambiguous that its verging on ridiculous, inspired by Elmidol, inspired by Lunaxxx
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:48:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25856152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/profligate/pseuds/profligate
Summary: What if you could win a war without firing a single shot?The Supreme Leader has turned his focus inward to the Force, leaving the First Order to rely on brutal tactics to win the war for the galaxy's soul. But Kylo Ren and General Hux are struggling to gain a foothold against the Resistance: enter a simple virologist from a forgotten sector of the Finalizer.Its gonna get nasty.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Reader, Kylo Ren/You, Poe Dameron/Finn/Rey
Kudos: 11





	Viral

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, this is probably gonna be slow but I just got...so fucking sick of the good/neutral good Readers in SW fics, so...have my lil creep. Reader is AFAB but I'll do my best to keep it ambiguous.

It wasn't uncommon for random halls of the Finalizer to be full of smoking debris and melted durasteel. 

In fact, it was almost a guarantee that the closer you were to the bridge, the more likely you were to encounter the remnants of a lightsaber tantrum. Rarely, the officer's quarters would be host to the screech of plasma against metal and the sparking of essential electronics sputtering in their last moments. At least once a cycle, maintenance crews would section off the corridor and the populace would go about their day. They were used to it, after all.

But not you. 

Relegated to the BioEngineering office two decks below the bridge, you had only heard rumors of the Supreme Leader's apprentice and his tantrums. Since setting foot on the flagship of the First Order, you'd only ever seen him once and just barely. The flurry of black robes around a corner, the chrome form of Captain Phasma following behind, had you scuttling to the lift and back to the safety of your forgotten office. With only five staff members, two of which were droids, the BioEng office was a sorry sight indeed but not to you. It was your haven. 

One you craved to go back to, almost desperately. 

All too soon, you arrived at the conference room. To your relief, other officers and enlisted had begun to file in, taking their seats as quiet chatter filled the room. You blended in with the throng, small compared to your counterparts but just as immaculately dressed in the First Order uniform. You slunk to your seat at the back of the room and slumped gratefully with your back against the wall.

It couldn’t be too long until they started, could it? 

Glancing at your datapad, you wrinkled your nose. Five minutes until the brief began. It felt like an eternity, crammed in the cold room with people who barely acknowledged your existence. As a component of the Medical squadron, you were looked down upon by pilots and the like, but blessedly ignored by most. 

Unfortunately, every component of the First Order war machine was required to attend the meeting as General Hux presented developments on the war. 

The War. 

It was a nebulous concept to you. You had attended university and were recruited not ten minutes after graduation, your performance having earned the First Order's attention. But you had never seen a battlefield. 

It had seemed like a dream come true until the reality of your position had set in. Despite your recruiter's pretty words, the First Order relied heavily on weaponry and ground troops to gain control over the galaxy and your skills were decidedly less...obvious. 

Your few acquaintances just assumed you had been forced to work in the BioEng office, not that it was your passion. There wasn’t anyone that was passionate about such dreadful things as viruses, was there? No one to wax poetic about the potential of fungi as an infection agent, or the danger of prions? 

Wrong.

There was you. It was bordering obscene, you knew, how... _excited_ such a grim topic made you. You sat alone at most meals, pouring over scientific journals and articles that had been published in the Core. The Hosnian system in particular had kept you busy the past five cycles, though-

Without warning, someone sank into the seat beside you, their form dwarfing yours considerably. Peeking to the side, your heart sank and you stifled what would have been a very unprofessional whimper. 

Kylo Ren. 

A chill ran up your spine and you cleared your throat to respectfully greet your superior, only to be cut off as General Hux stalked into the room. Everyone, barring the black mass beside you, shot to their feet in deference to the General. 

Kylo Ren stuck out like a sore thumb and the General zeroed in on it immediately, his eyes narrowing at him before flickering to you briefly. You grit your teeth. Attention was the last thing you wanted in this meeting. 

"Be seated."

The room sat and the meeting began. 

The TIE squadron commanders commenced with updates on various dogfights they'd engaged the Resistance in, casualties and costs of repairs lighting up the holotable where the more important members of the meeting sat. Barring the one beside you. His seat at the table was glaringly empty. 

Why had he chosen the back of the room, shrouded in shadow next to you? 

By choosing to sit elsewhere, he had effectively drawn even _more_ attention to himself. Your inner monologue became decidedly hostile each time the General would glance scathingly over to your corner. 

If the rumors were true and he could read your mind, you had no doubt that Kylo Ren would immediately launch you out of the airlock. You took it as a small blessing that you weren’t dead yet.

Shrugging away the thought, you tried to focus on the presentations but eventually, boredom reared its ugly head and you glanced down at your datapad. 

Pulling up notes of a recent influenza strain in the Hosnian system you had been reading that morning, you listened with half an ear as the meeting continued and lost most of your attention on the screen in your lap. Anxiety melted away as you focused. Had you been paying more attention, you would have noticed the black and chrome helmet of Kylo Ren turn slowly toward you and then down to your data pad. 

"-received reports of activity near Dagobah, though we lost them as they left the range of our scanners." 

You perked up at the mention of Dagobah, the name giving you a dreadful feeling of deja vu. Had it been in your reading somewhere? There weren't any outrageous native viral threats that you could think of, so what had...

A loud bang shook the holotable as an Admiral whose name you could not remember slammed his hand down onto the steel. 

"You _lost_ them? If they are hiding out on some swamp planet-"

"Restrain yourself Admiral." General Hux snapped, leaning forward in his seat to look at the hologram of Dagobah floating in front of him. Silence reigned and the General zoomed out to a view of the sector and sat in silence for a moment. 

"Despite his outburst, the Admiral has a point. If the Resistance," he spat the word as if it disgusted him "is camped out on Dagobah, then we have bigger problems than the incompetence of the intelligence squadron. Despite its relative uselessness, it is within close proximity to more worrisome planets." 

Conversation sprung up around the room and you wracked your brain, frantically trying to remember why Dagobah had sounded so familiar. 

The figure beside you was so silent you had nearly forgotten about him, until a deep voice emanated from the vocorder, distorted and frightening. Your heart stuttered in your chest and you could have sworn you blood froze in your veins. 

"Dagobah is of great interest to the Jedi, and thus the Resistane." His voice silenced the room almost immediately and you did not miss the way General Hux snapped his head in your direction the moment Ren spoke. "It would be foolish not to investigate...thoroughly." 

Hux narrowed his eyes before nodding jerkily and waved a hand at the others around the table. They began to discuss an occupation of Dagobah in depth and you tuned out, frantically looking through your notes. Hadn't there been a-

There.

It sat innocently amongst your other files, a file innocuously named Marshland Deployment. 

Shakily, you looked around before opening the file. Kylo Ren was facing forward, seemingly paying great attention to the meeting and as usual, no one paid you any mind. 

It was one of your old projects, a highly infectious and violent strain not dissimilar in symptoms to the flu, it would thrive on Dagobah. Almost too well. A few adjustments would need to be made in the lab, and of course a sample obtained but that would be the easiest part. The temperature on the swamp planet during the dry season was a little too high for your liking, but if the population of Resistance camps was dense enough and they were in the lowlands... 

Looking up, you could see the table was still in deep discussion. 

"The terrain alone will be an obstacle, let alone the inhabitants. The foliage is too dense for our vehicles, and landing will be impossible unless we can find dry solid ground near enough to their outpost." the Admiral from before said grumpily, looking all the world like he did not want to be there. 

The tone was becoming increasingly tense as the meeting went on and you struggled to choke down your anxiety. Should you say something? A simple payload of the virus and a handful of patrol droids could wipe out any humanoids within a matter of days. You shook as you slowly went to raise your hand.

No one noticed.

Except...the man next to you stiffened and turned his helmet to look at you. You resolutely did not look over and instead focused on clearing your throat and raising your hand higher. 

Nothing.

Frustrated as the voices rose and men at the table grew red in the face, you stood abruptly and went to attention.

“General Hux sir!” you chirped, knees shaking.

Immediately, the General’s eyes slid to your diminutive form and he raised an eyebrow. He rose a hand and the others at the table were silenced.

“Yes? You have something to say…?” he trailed off, looking you up and down, gaze snagging on the medical badge pinned to your lapel.

You shakily introduced yourself with your rank and name.

“Sir, I’m from the Biological Engineering bay and I think I may-”

A loud snort cut you off and your jaw snapped shut, looking in muted horror and irritation as three of the men at the table stifled laughs. It spread like wildfire and others around the room had a good snicker. General Hux considered you as the laughter continued, content to merely gauge your reaction.

Swallowing your pride, you clenched your fists and prepared to speak over them. 

Before you could open your mouth however, the Admiral that had started it went silent and grasped at his throat, turning purple as he struggled to breathe. Others began to notice his plight, one of his colleagues scooting away as it became apparent that no one was choking him.

No one normal, anyway. 

Kylo Ren sat rigidly next to you, one of his arms raised slightly and a gloved hand clenched tightly. Again, General Hux said nothing and watched over his steepled hands. With a twitch, the Force user released the Admiral and choking gasps filled the room. 

“I trust there will be no more interruptions, _Admiral_ ,” came the distorted voice beside you again.

The room was silent as the Admiral shook his head and shakily readjusted his collar. 

Rolling his eyes, the General waved you on.

“W-well, sir, I ah. Dagobah is a prime candidate for biological warfare. The humidity, the general climate, i-it would be over for the Resistance within days.” you said shakily, gripping your datapad in front of you like a shield.

The General and several others had sat up as you had continued to speak. The unspoken notion that several million credits could be saved had caught their attention. It was no secret that Starkiller was a huge drain on their resources, and the First Order had been cutting corners on repairs and upgrades for months. 

Narrowing his eyes, Hux waved you forward, gesturing to the console to his right.

“Well don’t dawdle, show us.”

Swallowing thickly, you stepped forward and nearly tripped on Kylo Ren’s robes. Horror filled you as you resolutely continued, but the room was silent. Apparently the threat of a Force choke was enough to keep the peace.

It took you no time at all to hook up your data pad and bring up the logistics of the viral strain itself. Fingers flying across the screen, you pulled up a larger model of Dagobah and straightened.

“With a small but relatively dense population, such as an outpost or base, and with the conditions on Dagobah, this disease would spread rather...violently.” You prodded a button on the screen and within moments, the simulation began. 

It was short.

The animation began with a probe landing on the humid planet. Then, your favorite part, the red pixels spreading out from the probe as the virus infected the water particles in the air and was breathed in by the Resistance forces. The time counter in the upper part of the hologram showed five standard days by the time the simulation ended, and the estimated population had been completely wiped out. 

Excitement had your stomach rolling and the simulation began to play again unprompted. Your eyes were fixated, almost feverishly, on the planet as it was infected. Again, you failed to notice the mask in the back of the room focused on you rather intently. 

General Hux reached over and paused the simulation.

The rest of the room was silent, waiting with bated breath to see his reaction. You chewed your lip and waited.

Finally-

“Begin preparations for a scout force immediately.” He ordered.

Your heart sank into your stomach and you stepped back to return to your seat. 

“Lieutenant, begin a small set of vaccinations for all members of the operation. I want plans for the deployment of the virus on my desk by the end of the cycle.”

You froze and turned to look at the General. His face was cold as he looked at you but your chest filled with warmth and you nearly shivered with delight on the spot.

“You will report to myself and Kylo Ren directly for this mission, none other. Vice Admiral-” he addressed the Medical lead near the door and the poor man jerked at being addressed for once.

“Have her moved to the Medical Bay immediately. My understanding is that the BioEng office is somewhat destitute, yes?” General Hux drawled, pinning the Vice Admiral to his seat with a cold look. 

Hux stood and the rest of the room stood with him, everyone except Kylo Ren snapping to attention. The ginger general focused on you once more.

“Should this fail, Lieutenant, it will be your head. Dismissed.”

And with that, your fate was sealed. You waited for your superiors to leave the room, the Vice Admiral’s name already popping up on your data pad as he included you in a mass message to begin the transfer of your supplies. 

You went to leave, only to stop as a tall form stepped in front of you. Kylo Ren looked down at you, visor tilted to the side as he considered your small form.

“It won’t just be your head if you fail, Lieutenant. I will personally see to it that you are...punished.” he growled before whirling away.

Heart in your throat, you stood alone in the room and tried to ignore the shaking in your knees.

What the hell had just happened?

  
  



End file.
